Durable Foreign Object Debris (FOD) Screens for Air Cushion Vehicles - MSC P4579

The Foreign Object Debris (FOD) screens on board the Navy’s Air Cushioned Vehicle (ACV) platforms are operationally essential structures that protect the primary thrust propulsors from damage.  FOD screen performance is critical as failure of one or both of the propulsors will ultimately render the craft inert.  The current CRES 316L stainless steel FOD screens are expensive and are of substantial weight. Material and design improvements to make the FOD screens lighter and less expensive, with minimal impacts to existing equipment and sub-systems would allow for more operational performance of the vehicle at lower life cycle costs.       The innovation and opportunity offered in this proposal to meet the program objective is an approach for simultaneously reducing the weight and maintenance costs through the implementation of designs that incorporate Fiber Reinforced Composite (FRC) and Advanced Polymer Coated Textile materials.  Performance improvements will be achieved through the optimization of the composite structures as well as the netting material and its integration into the structure.  To accomplish this objective, MSC has assembled a team of material specialists and structural engineers and composites fabricators to develop lightweight, advanced material solutions that result in a Form-Fit-Function drop-in replacement FOD screen for the LCAC100.  The proposed Phase II program builds on the Phase I feasibility demonstration to design, manufacture and test a prototype FOD screen to demonstrate performance for representative loading environments and establish a production process to facilitate accelerated transition to LCAC 1000 and future ACV platforms.